Little Known Black History Fact: The Lost Poem of Jupiter Hammon

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A grad student at the University of Texas in Arlington has found a rare new poem written by the first black published writer in America, Jupiter Hammon. Hammon was born into slavery in 1711. While researching Hammon’s poems, Julie McCown found the 200-plus-year-old manuscript buried in the archives at Yale University Library in Connecticut. The poem is dated November 1786 and was in near “perfect” condition according to UTA professor Cedrick May.